Engine compression regulator



P. M. FREER. ENGINE COMPRESSION REGULATOR.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.20, 1921.

Patented Sept. 12, 1922.

1 /76 2px fli Patented Sept. 12, 1922.

PATENT OFFICE.

PHELPS Iti. FItIEER, IDE'IIMBIT, MICHIGAN.

, I" i v :aue rnn ooiarnnssron REG-ULA'IUR Application filed January e0,1921. serial no. assess.

I To all whom it may comm: I

Bait known that I, Piinnrs M. Fenian, acitizen of the United States ofAmerica, residingat Detroit, in the county of Wayne and StateofMichig-an, have invented certain newand useful. Improvements in EngineCompression Regulators, of which the following is a specification,reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings. This inventionrelates to engine constructions and lnethod'ot operating same and refers more particularly to an engine compression regulator or system.

In internal combustion engines particularly those' operated at variablespeed such as the ordinary automobile, airplane, motor boat or the liketype of enginesthe degree of compression in the enginecylinders islimited from a practical standpoint by the compression that can be usedat speeds bclow the maximum. Therefore in designing the engine it hasbeen considered necessary to use a compression space of a size whichwill be practical for the various speeds. The present inventioncontemplates a radi' caldeparture tromthe prior art in that the engineis initially designed with a relatively small compression space thusproducing a higher degree of compression than is practical with enginesand systems of oper ation now inuse; I then provide a novel mechanismfor regulating the maximum compression at the various speeds so thatwhen operating at the variousspeeds the proper degree of compressionwill be maintained which compression regulating system can be employedeither with or without the ordinary speed governor. The "invention alsoresides in the novel arrangement for providing preferably automaticallya different degree ofcom'pression in starting the en gine when "cold andin the operation of the engine after being heated up. Further ob jectsof the-invention are to provide a con-- struction and system which canbe economically installed and which can be readily adaptedto the typesof engines now in use without material change or alteration in theconstruction thereof. Other features oi. the invention reside in thenovel combinations of the different control mechanismsand in suchfurther features of construction and arrange ments of partsandoperations as will more fully hereinafter appear.

In-the drawings:

Figure 1. is a diagrammatic fragmentary vertical section illustratingone embodiment oi ny invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged detail view of the automatic temperature controladjustment.

Describing first in detail the particular embodiment of my inventionshown in Figs. 1 and 2, A designates one of the cylinders of an internalcombustion engine having the water jacket it providing cooling waterspaces A In this cylinder there is arranged to reciprocate the ordinarypiston B connected by the piston rod B to the crank shaft I5 Itdesignates the intake manifold having a connection C to the carburetorD. The latter may be of any known construction, but as shown is ofthetype in which the air is admitted through the inlet D and passingthrough the bowl D picks up fuel from the supply nozzle D the latterbeing controlled by a needle valve D The amount of air and mixture iscontrolled by a butterfly Valve ii) which is operated by ahand-controlled lever IE, these parts being of ordinary construction andforming no part of the present invention except in their relation andcombination with the compression control mechanism. j

In addition to the butterfly valve E the passageway C is provided with asecond but teriiy or throttle valve F which is operated by a rocking ofan arm F, which in turn is moved toward its open position by a cam G andnormally held toward its closed position by a springI The cam G turns ona pivot G" carried by a vertically adjustable rod or support G theconstruction and operation of which is later described in detail. Forrocking the. cam Gr about its pivot there is employed a verticallyadjustable sleeve II, which at its upper end engages the projec tion 6-on the cam G. The sleeve II is telescopically mounted on a governorshaft I which, as it is rotated at variable speeds, causes the arms I tobe thrown outwardly by centrifugal force as the speed of the shaft Iincreases thus lifting the sleeve II which in turn lifts the projectionG on the cam G- and rocks the latter about its pivot G. Thus as thespeed of the shaft I increases the cam G- is rocked to a position whichwill raise the outer end oi the rod l?" and rock the valveI toward itsopen position. As the speed of the shaft I decreases the cam G will bereturned toward its lower position thus permitting the spring I to drawthe rod F downwardly and variably restrict the I venting too highcompression.

opening past the valve F. This shaft I is driven in timed relation tothe speed of the engine and While the intermediate connection'may befrom a timer shaft or any other part of the engine I have shown it inthe drawings as operated from the crank shaft B by means of a series ofbevelled gears J, J, J and J By this novel arrangement above described,the amount of air and gas mixture passing to the cylinders and thus thecompression desired at each speed is compression regulator performs anentirely di'fi'e'rent functionthan the control of the maximum speedwhich can be developed. In fact it may be used in conjunction with speedregulators or entirely independent thereof, and could be set to regulatethe maximum speed, as well as regulating the compression at allintermediate points. 1

V In starting an engine (as is well known thesame adjustment which isused when the engine is running at its normal high temperature is notsatisfactory when the engine 18 running cold. For this purpose I providea temperature control adjustment (preferably automatic) whereby thevalve F in all its various adjustments of compression control throughthe cam G is nevertheless operated at different ranges. While this 7couldbe accomplished in various forms of mechanism, I havediagrammatically illustrated it as being carried out in the followa ingmanner: At its upper end the stem Gr I which has ahas an adjustablesleeve portion K which connects the, two parts offthe stem G? carried bythe thermostat ,K. The latter, through a pipe K is subjected to thetemperature of the water 'acket A so that as the tem-' perature in t ecylinder is increased, the heat developed will, throu h the watercoolingsystem, pass to the c amber K and expand the thermostat K. This willlower the rod Gr and adjust the pivot G of the cam Gdownward.,Therefore, when the sleeve H is raised by the centrifugal arms I itwill produce a lesser open adjustment of the valve F than when thethermostat is contracted. In order to ermit of a manual adjustmentof thecam I preferably provide the stem G with a sleeve portion K pinoperating in the inclined groovejK. herefore, as the sleeve K is rockedby the arm;K it will increase or decrease the total length of the rod Gso that manual adjustment of the ivot point G is possible inde endent ofthe thermostatic ad'ustment. hile I have shown and describe the valve Fas being se arate from the valve E it isof course possib e that the twovalves might be combined in one and variousother changes made in thedetails of construction (which is illustrated mostly diagrammatically)without departing from the scope of my invention.

One important feature of my invention that I particularly desire #4 "ntout ia the fact that an engine equippefgv ith my compression regulatorsystem cannot be by the o erator suddenly throwing the throttle va ve Eto, open position. he does so with my construction it will be impossiblefor the engine to receive a charge that will give a higher mpnewion thant at desired at the partwidar spe d it which the engine, is tur Thisiedue-t0 the fact that the valve WW"? adjusted to restrict the openingpast the same to a degree where the amount of mixture reaching theengine eylinder can only pr duce th m ximum degree of c mpressiondesired at any speed. However, as the speed of the eng ne increases thevalve F will be automatically adju fied to a hither open position so asto permitthe amount of a r and gas mixture to flow to the enginecylinders which will givethedesited d 00 of compression at tillShigbOl'was I am enabled to use an abnormally 8 W clearance space and at the. Mtime to'limit the compression at all speeds so that the danger ofinjuringthe b the o ator suddenly adjusting the handicontre led throttleto wide open position is avoided. The invention, however, in its broader88- pects is not limited to the two for-me of mechanism shown nor to thecommotion and combination of parts and operations except as ultimatelyset. forth in the claims.

7 What I laim as my invention is:

1. In an internal combustion engine, the combination with the enginecylinder, of mechanism associated therewith .for automaticallyincreasing the degree of compres- 101.1 in sa1dcy1inder in, accordancewith the increase in the speed of the engine.

2. In an internal combustion engine, ;the combination with the enginecylinder, oi. mechanism associated therewith for automaticallyincreasing the degree of compression in said cylinder in accordancewithithe increase in the speed of the engine and to adjust the range ofcompression ire in accordance with changes in the engine temperature.

3. In an internal combustion engine, the combination with'theen inecylinder and a piston working thereinfi a a constant minimum clearance sI connected therewith or automatically in- ISO creasing the degree ofcompression in said. cally governed valve independent of the cylinder inaccordance with the increase in first-mentioned valve for increasing thethe speed ofthe engine.- maximum amount of combustible mixture 10 4. Inan internal combustion engine, the in said cylinder in accordance withthe in- 5 combination With the engine cylinder, of a crease in the speedof the engine.

Valve controlling the supply of combustible Intestimony whereof I affixmy signature.

mixture to said cylinder and an automati- PHELPS M. FREER.

